Vietnamese food is full of mouth watering flavors and this recipe is sure not to disappoint. I found it while browsing on Pinterest. I adapted the recipe from an original post in October 2007 from Food and Wine Magazine.

Marinate the chicken: In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, garlic, curry powder, salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the sugar. Add the chicken meat to coat. Marinade for at least two hours.

Make the caramel: In a small skillet, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with 1 tablespoon of the water and cook over high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cook without stirring until a deep amber caramel forms about 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of water. Transfer to a small bowl.

Cook the chicken: Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat. Add the coconut oil and heat until shimmering. Add the lemongrass, shallot, and chilies and stir-fry until fragrant about 1 minute. Add the chicken and caramel and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened about 8 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and top with the scallions and cilantro. Serve with steamed white rice.

I stumbled upon this recipe for Moroccan Lamb Meatballs and made it last night after browsing Pinterest and I will definitely make these flavor packed meatballs again. These lamb meatballs are simple to make and there are some fabulous spices in them. I served them with a simple salad and homemade yogurt sauce. Store-bought Tzatziki is great too. Shout out to Claire @Sprinklesandsprouts for the recipe.

Prep Time: 15mins

Cook Time: 5mins

Total Time: 20 mins

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients

1small onion (I used a red onion)

3garlic cloves

1egg

1sliceof white bread ( I used a slice of whole wheat bread)

1/2tspground cinnamon

1/2tspdried oregano

1/2tspdried parsley

1tspground cumin

1/2tspground allspice

1/2tsppaprika

1/2tspsmoked paprika

1/2tspcracked black pepper

1tspsalt

2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil

500g/1.1lb lamb mince(ground lamb)

Instructions

Peel the onion and garlic and place them in a food processor, then blitz until you have an onion mush. Use a spatula to push the mixture down from the sides.

Crack in the egg and pulse mix until you have an egg mush.

Remove the crusts from the bread, rip it into small pieces and add it to the food processor.

Measure in the cinnamon, oregano, parsley, cumin, allspice, paprika, smoked paprika, black pepper and salt, then pulse chop until everything is well mixed. Remove the blade.

Place the ground lamb in a medium bowl. Add the mixture from the food processor using a spatula. Use your hands to squish and squash the mixture together until it is well mixed.

Once the mixture is well mixed, use two teaspoons to measure out a ball of mixture. Roll it around in your hands and then set the ball aside on cookie sheet or jelly roll pan.

I aim for 36 meatballs.

Heat the oil in a heavy based frying pan. Once it is smoking hot, reduce the heat to medium and add the meatballs. (Use a screen to prevent splatters and ease in cleanup).

Cook for 2 minutes and then roll them all about to cook the other sides. They will take about 5 minutes in total to cook.

Hint: I have a pretty packed spice cabinet so I had all the ingredients. If you don’t, you can take a shortcut and buy spice mix. Williams-Sonoma has Ras El Hanout in a jar that has a similar but not equal combination of moroccan spices that you could use instead. Just replace the cinnamon, cumin, allspice, paprika and smoked paprika and pepper with 1 Tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon of Ras El Hanout.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, mix together garlic, Parmesan, Italian seasoning, and melted butter and season with salt.
2. Using kitchen scissors, cut the the clear skin off the lobster and brush the lobster tails with the garlic butter seasoning.
3. Place the lobster tails on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake the lobster tails for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

My sister Tomi is a great cook and has the gift of hospitality. One Christmas she and her family were visiting us from the east coast and we decided to throw a cocktail party to introduce them to several of our neighbors and friends. At about 8pm the cocktail party turned into a dinner party and we looked at each other saying “What can we make for a party of 12?” Tomi quickly offered to whip up a hearty pasta dish sure to satisfy the hungry bunch. Sure enough, the super easy and delicious pasta was a hit.

I now make it for Sunday night dinner and always think of my sister when I make it. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! The recipe below is modified for 6-8 people.